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Canadian Premier League - Cavalry FC v Atlético Ottawa FC - Calgary, Alberta, Canada Jul, 12, 2023 midfielder Oliver Bassett of Atlético Ottawa FC celebrates his goal on a penalty. CFC Media Mike Sturk
MATCH ANALYSIS: Atlético Ottawa score twice late to beat Cavalry FC 2-0 at ATCO Field
July 13, 2023
Canadian Premier League
Cavalry FC Jean-Aniel Assi Match Analysis Ollie Bassett One Soccer

Final Score: Cavalry FC 0-2 Atlético Ottawa
Goalscorers: Bassett 82′ (PK), Assi 86′
Game of the 2023 season: 57
CPL match: 424

Match in a minute or less

Atlético Ottawa picked up three big points in their push for the playoffs on Wednesday night, beating Cavalry FC 2-0 at ATCO Field thanks to a pair of late goals.

The first shot on target didn’t come until the 82nd minute of the match, when midfielder Ollie Bassett stepped up to the penalty spot after Marco Carducci brought down Malcolm Shaw in the area. Bassett fired a shot past Carducci, his third match in a row with a penalty goal, to give his side the lead. Jean-Aniel Assi put the game to bed with a goal against his former side, beating Carducci after a quick counter-attack and a well-placed pass to him from Sam Salter.

With the win, Ottawa move back within a single point of the Halifax Wanderers for the fifth and final playoff spot, halfway through their respective CPL regular seasons.

Three Observations

Bassett scores from the spot again as Ottawa give themselves a shot at a nine-point week

For the third match in a row, Atlético Ottawa star Ollie Bassett scored from the penalty spot, and for the second match in a row the goal would prove to be the game-winner for his side. This goal, his seventh of the season, puts him joint-top of the Canadian Premier League’s tight Golden Boot race, tied with Cavalry FC’s Myer Bevan and Forge FC’s Terran Campbell.

Wednesday’s goal came at the perfect moment — late in the match, on the road, and while both sides were struggling a bit to create any offence. When Malcolm Shaw was taken down by Marco Carducci, it set up a spot kick that could prove to be very important down the stretch of the season. With the reigning CPL Player of the Year lining up against the two-time CPL Goalkeeper of the Year, it was the Englishman Bassett who came out on top, sending Carducci the wrong way to give his team the lead.

Jean-Aniel Assi added another goal four minutes later, taking advantage of an interception and textbook counter-attack from Sam Salter to put the game to bed. The rapid move up the pitch resulted in Assi scoring against the club that had him on loan from CF Montréal a season ago, and securing the three points.

With a win last weekend at home, this win on the road midweek, and another match on the weekend at home against last-place Vancouver FC, Carlos Gonzalez’s side have a shot at what would be a very impressive nine-point week. Before last weekend’s match against Valour, the club was sitting last in the table, but if they win against Vancouver and a couple of other results go their way, they could potentially finish this coming weekend as high as fourth.

That’s a lot of ifs, but it certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility, and this Ottleti side has done everything in their power to give themselves a shot at turning their fortunes around almost instantly.

“It’s as important as this game, every single game counts for the same three points,” Gonzalez said on Wednesday about the upcoming match against Vancouver. “The reality is that now we move on, in three days we have a new game.

“We have to prepare the team in the best way, we have to go home and we have to try to fight for the three important points in TD Place that will put us in a good position.”

Cavalry can’t break down Ottawa defensive line, expected tough match

Cavalry FC knew coming into this match that Ottawa would play a defensive style of football that would be incredibly difficult to break down, and then they would try to hit the Cavs on the counter-attack. Head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr said as much before the match, saying that Ottawa “are very well coached and very disciplined” and that “they’re going to probably come here and try and suck the life out of the game.”

Ottawa won twice on the road at ATCO Field with those tactics a season ago, and did exactly the same thing on Wednesday night. They were happy to sit deep and let Cavalry try to break them down, with the home side dominating possession of the ball, holding onto it for 66.1% of the match.

Cavalry weren’t able to consistently break through the wall of defence in front of them, and only had four shots in this match, none of them on target. Goteh Ntignee and Ali Musse are wide players capable of doing special things with a football that can unlock games and break them wide open, but in this match were lacking that moment of magic to really spark life into their side’s attack. Joe Mason was involved earlier in the match, driving into the box and having a shot blocked from a few yards out in the first half, but he and Myer Bevan weren’t really getting the service they need to be the lethal goalscorers they can be — or creating many opportunities themselves.

Sure enough, Ottawa flipped a switch and started playing more attacking football later in the match and a pair of counter-attacks late in the game led to their two shots on goal — both of which ended up in the back of Marco Carducci’s goal. It was frustrating for a Cavs side that knew what tactical identity was likely coming and still couldn’t find a way to break it down — but credit must also be given to Carlos Gonzalez’s team for having a plan, sticking to it, and executing it well.

“We knew Ottawa would come in and do exactly what they did, we’ve played that game several times,” said Wheeldon Jr after the match. “What we needed was a moment of magic, we needed to be able to unlock them early because when they get scored on they change their gameplan and that opens it up.

“The reality is that our attacking prowess wasn’t what it has been. I can’t be too harsh on the lads, hopefully it’s just a blip. We’ve been brilliant up until this point so we just have to take our losses and move on to Saturday’s match.”

(Photo: CFC Media/ Mike Sturk)

Young right back Michael Harms shows promise in CPL debut

If there was one big bright spot for Cavalry FC on Wednesday, it was the performance of young right back Michael Harms, who made his professional debut and impressed with a sturdy 78 minutes in which he hardly put a foot wrong.

Harms, a 17-year-old right back, is a local player and has been brought up in the Calgary Foothills program that has developed so many players for Cavalry and Canadian soccer in general. He initially signed a development contract with the club last summer, and with Roberto Alarcon out with an injury and Fraser Aird playing a lot of minutes lately, Harms was finally given his opportunity to make his first CPL appearance.

He started at right back, and looked sharp on both sides of the ball. He’s known for being an attacking right back, fitting Cavalry’s system well, but also showed on Wednesday night that he can defend against the likes of Ruben Del Campo, Gabriel Antinoro and MacDonald Niba — who all started on the left side of Ottawa’s formation.

Defensively, Harms lead Cavalry with four successful tackles and two clearances, and won a team-high 10 of his 15 duels. In attack, he had 76 touches, the third most of anyone in this match, and a couple of successful dribbles as he looked to make things happen down the right side, also completing 80 per cent of his passes (32/40).

“That’s the pleasing part,” Cavalry head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr said after a frustrating loss about his young defender. “When we brought him off it was 0-0. It’s a 17-year-old lad, playing his first game, pro debut at home, and I thought he was terrific against some handy weapons that they have. The kid’s got a future, we’re delighted he’s with us, and I look forward to many more appearances for us.”

“I thought Harmsy was terrific,” added Cavs midfielder Jesse Daley. “For a young boy to come in and play in front of a few thousand at home, obviously he’s a local boy as well, I thought he was excellent and can’t speak highly enough of his debut, to play like that at his age.”

Harms can look no further than the opposite side of the pitch for some inspiration to make those appearances, as Atlético Ottawa goalkeeper Nathan Ingham and midfielder Noah Verhoeven both made their 100th appearances for CPL clubs in this match.

Michael Harms and MacDonald Niba battle for the ball. (Photo: CFC Media Mike Sturk)

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Ollie Bassett, Atlético Ottawa

Bassett once again put in a strong shift in the Ottawa midfield, and scored from the penalty spot for the third match in a row — and his second game-winning goal in a row.

What’s next?

Cavalry FC remain at home, and welcome the Halifax Wanderers to ATCO Field on Saturday (2 pm MT/5 pm AT). Atlético Ottawa will head back home this weekend, hosting Vancouver FC on Sunday at TD Place (2 pm ET/11 am PT).

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